Page:The history of medieval Europe.djvu/650

 594 THE HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE of able historians at Florence, of whom we have already had occasion to mention the two greatest, Guicciardini and Machiavelli, gave attention to economic as well as military and diplomatic matters. Baldassare Castiglione (1478- 1529), in his Book of the Courtier, set forth the amenities of social life among the Italians of the Renaissance. The invention of printing with separate types for each letter facilitated greatly the labors of the later humanists Invention and spread the results of their work abroad in of printing Europe. This invention was first employed about 1450, either at Mainz on the Rhine by Gutenberg and others, or at Haarlem in the Netherlands by Coster. The printing-press greatly increased the number and reduced the cost of books, so that much larger libraries were made possible. Although some old manuscripts are as legible and more beautiful than printed books, the average printed page would be much easier to read and copies would not differ in details as different manuscripts do. Proof-read- ing provides an opportunity to avoid the errors or correc- tions inevitable in a manuscript. For some time, however, printed books continued to look a great deal like the man- uscripts, and the many abbreviations and signs for familiar words or for repeatedly occurring endings which copiers by hand had employed to shorten their labors were perpetuated in the printed page as well. More persons would now become readers and reading matter could be got to them more rapidly. The pamphlet, Someulti- *-he Droa dside, the periodical, and all the other mate results species of ephemeral literature were now bound ing to be born soon. The day of the orator and the troubadour was over : men could read now instead of listen. In education the textbook would take the place of lectures, reading would replace personal tuition; and a more uni- versal popular education was made possible. In scholarship the chief requisite now became bibliography rather than rote memory. In due time authors would be able to appeal to pub- lishers and reading public instead of having to rely upon rich or noble patrons. Many of these changes, however, have